Evaluation of Constructing Triangles

From Teach

Lesson ID

• Class: 8A3 (30-31 pupils)
  • 15-16 boys, 15 girls
• Date: 9th November 2009
• Time: 12.35-13.25
• Room: T12
• Lesson number: 5th in the day. My only spare period prior to this was 4th.
• National Curriculum (or other syllabus) area: KS3 Y8 Module 14: Shape and Measure
• Target level(s) Grades: This is a relatively low ability set.

Achievement of Your Objectives

Did they learn and how do I know they did? If not, why not?

• Were the stated objectives/learning outcomes achieved?
  • We recapped and tested parts of a circle. Some of the pupils wanted me to speed up, as they had already covered this.
  • I did not cover the perpendicular property of the tangent, nor was there time to cover quadrilaterals.
• What evidence do you have?

Clarity of my Teaching

Were my instructions and teaching expositions clear to pupils?

Getting the Pupils Engaged

• Was the response of the pupils enthusiastic, uncertain/negative?
• Did everyone have a real chance to be actively engaged in the lesson?

Issues of class management/control

• Did I cope with any disruptions? (Did the plan cater for behaviour management?)

Though the lesson was in several aspects a disaster, I get a buzz from doing it. The main problem was crowd control. Ruth was observing me from the back, and she got up at several points to reassert control, so it felt a lot more like team teaching than solo teaching. But I am not going to take it personally in a negative way. After years of being cooped up alone in my study, I guess I'm finding it wonderful simply to be the centre of attention, irrespective of the fact that I'm not yet regarded as a figure of authority.

I am making a point of getting round all the pupils and talking them on a one-to-one or one-to-few basis, and I hope that the respect will emerge out of that. It's far easier for a novice teacher to see what clicks with a a few pupils than with a mass of 30.

According to Ruth, the key issues were:

• Pace,
• Class discipline, and
• Noise.

I need to get them all to stop talking, perhaps by raising my voice. I need a strategy for discipline and noise.

I have to be firm. At the moment, the class is behaving like a Jack Russell, going where it wants to and pulling me along with it.

Knowing the Pupils

• Did I show the class that I knew their names?
  • Several of the pupils, and the teacher, were clearly impressed that I had learnt their full names over the weekend.

• Do I have evidence of the pupils’ strengths and weaknesses? (How do I really know what these are?)

Time Management

Did I time-manage the lesson well?

• No, I did not start the main chunk of the less until 13.06.

If I could give the lesson again ...

• Do I need to rethink the order of teaching?

• I must not ask "Did you have a good weekend?" at the point when they are all fairly quiet and I need them to be so!

My Subject Knowledge

• Any additional subject knowledge development I need to undertake?
  • Vocabulary: a chord divides a circle into two parts, not two halves.

• I need to know what examiners are looking for: in this case, evidence of the arcs as the pupils construct their triangle vertices.

Other issues

For example, do I now have good evidence for having met a particular standard on your course profile?

• I handed out six pairs of compasses to the students to keep overnight to do the homework. Some may not hand them back, and I may have to bear the cost of replacing them.

Action for next lesson

• What are the most important points I ought to take forward into my future planning?